Question for animal owners

[slymyke]

We have a small dog that just turned 7 (I guess 49 in dog years..lol).  He has never had flea until the last couple of weeks, and is stressed out by them.  We have always put FrontGuard on him, and it has always worked.  He only goes outside occasionally and usually not for too long. 

We first bathed him in a Flea shampoo, and vacuumed and sprayed all areas where he had been.  Then applied more FrontGuard. 

He was good for a few days, but they came back.  We don't see fleas or flea eggs on anything in the house, but every time he gets them, we give him another flea bath. 

I remember talking to a guy in Jacksonville about a year ago, and he was telling me how bad the fleas were up there at that time.  We live about 2.5-3 hours South of there, and didn't have a problem.  I wonder if we are experiencing the bad fleas down here now. 

I used to have my lawn sprayed for lawn insects and fertilized until about 5 months ago when we decided to cut back for financial reasons.  I'm also wondering if those chemicals were helping with the fleas before. 

We do not have infestation by any means, but he is a Caviler King Charles Spaniel, and gets stressed out with the fleas.  I know all dogs scratch for fleas, but he sometimes seems to be trying to run from them....lol.

Any thoughts?

[Razor X]

I've heard that fleas can become resistant to Frontline, though I have not experienced that myself. I would suggest trying another product like Advantage or Advantix. Your vet can probably recommend a few others to try.

[slymyke]

I've heard that fleas can become resistant to Frontline, though I have not experienced that myself. I would suggest trying another product like Advantage or Advantix. Your vet can probably recommend a few others to try.

Yeah, I was wondering about the immunity factor.  Plus, he is near the top of the weight for the smaller dogs 18lbs, unless he gained more weight, but I don't think he did.

The cut-off is 22lbs.  I just don't want to make him sick by going up to a higher dosage.   I'm trying to avoid the vet, but may have to take him in.

[Razor X]

Make sure you're using something with an insect growth regulator to sterilize the fleas before they lay eggs. That's really the only way to break the cycle. Are you using regular Frontline or Frontline Plus? Frontline Plus contains an IGR, the regular Frontline does not.

[slymyke]

Make sure you're using something with an insect growth regulator to sterilize the fleas before they lay eggs. That's really the only way to break the cycle. Are you using regular Frontline or Frontline Plus? Frontline Plus contains an IGR, the regular Frontline does not.

I will have to check that.  I didn't know there was a difference.  Maybe that is why some stores seem to have it for so much less.  Thanks.  I will look into that for sure.  I was thinking all of their products had that ingredient.

[tomgallagher]

Florida weather can be tough a far as flea's are concerned. You seem to be doing everything right. Maybe the vet is the next step.

[Country]

I live in Arkansas and have labs that live outside. I used to have problems with fleas and frontline stopped working. I went to the vet and he suggested Comfortis. It is a pill that you give once a month. It is based on the weight of the dog also if I remember right. But the main thing is it works very well.

[slymyke]

I checked and the Frontline we used as the "Plus" version...so maybe has stopped working.  I will check into the Comfortis pill too. 

You are right, Tom.  Florida is bad for fleas and other insects too.  We've just never had a problem with this dog, until now.  I will try to call the vet too. (they will probably want me to bring him in for a fee... oops, I meant to say a visit...lol)

[tomgallagher]

I know what u mean Myke. The Vet is getting more expensive than the family Doc.

[buddha]

We started using a thing called "Vectra". As I understand it is only available through the vet (I haven't really looked into that) but in addition to killing anything that bites it is also supposed to repel things that try to get on the dog. Also the dog can be given either an oral or injected dose of Ivermectin and that should take care of anything that's already on the skin.

[Baldstu]

Frontline m for my two cats , thereis an injection thing they can have also

[wutwutman]

As the caretaker of a small-medium dog (Manchester Terrier) for the last 7 years, I can say the Frontline doesn't really work effectively.  None of the "over the counter" stuff does and long term use can actually be detrimental to your dogs health.  With a stubborn or reoccurring flea problem, the best solution is to get the "flea shot" from your vet.  One shot last an entire season, at least it does for us.  And it's not expensive at most vets.  Then you don't have to worry about it, and your dog is not stressed and is happy and healthy

 

[Razor X]

I have never heard of a flea shot. They did have heartworm preventive injections a few years back but they were taken off the market because so many dogs had adverse reactions to it.  Proceed with caution where these types of injections are concerned.  If your dog has an adverse reaction to a oral or topical medication, you can always stop giving it. If they have an adverse reaction to a six-month or year-long vaccine, there is nothing you can do to get those mess out of their systems.

Just sayin' .   

[Country]

Razor X have you had a bad experience with the injections?  I put my dogs on a pro heart injection for heart worms about 4 years ago. The shot is given every 6 months and seems to work great. My older lab had heart worms while on heart guard chewables and had to be treated. I live in mosquito country and the vet said heart guard was not working very well. I was kind of forced into the injection from lack of other options but so far so good.

[slymyke]

Thanks for the feedback, guys!   Thought I would share a pic: